1802 $2 1/2 MS62 NGC.BD-2, High R.5. A wonderful
example with brilliant green-gold luster on both sides. The obverse
is frosty and the reverse is satiny with reflective fields. A few
scattered marks are entirely insignificant. Like most 1802 quarter
eagles, the central obverse and reverse design elements are
weak.
Die State. The obverse has a tiny die chip or rust mark at the
back of Liberty's hair. The reverse die is perfect.
Condition Census. This is possibly the only Mint State example
of the variety known.
Appearances. Plated in the Bowers and Merena 2002 catalog.
Obverse Die. The final digit is smaller than the others and
approximately centered between border and bust. The 1 has a
short serif almost touching the hair. New layout with LIBERTY
entirely right of the cap. Letters are spaced increasingly farther
apart from left to right with L extremely close to the cap and I
very slightly low. Eight stars left and five right, remarkably
evenly spaced. Star 1 has two points very close to the hair and
star 8 is much further from the cap. Star 9 is closer to Y than
star 13 is to bust.State a. Perfect. State b. A tiny die defect appears
on a back strand of Liberty's hair.

Reverse Die. A leaf tip ends just right of base of I but does not
touch this letter. All three E's are missing their upper left
serif. U is much closer to an arrow shaft than to border. First S
is low. Upright of E is over space between clouds 4 and 5. Left
base of first A in AMERICA is extremely close to third and fourth
feathers. Bases of ME are joined and RI are very close. Final A is
distant from both the claw and lowest leaf. Five berries in branch
with three lowest berries free of leaves. Outer arrow point is
below right edge of U. Arrows extend below center of left upright
of N. Thirteen stars with normal arrangement of six in the top row
and five below. Star 2 is separated from clouds and oriented below
left base of A. Star 7 is left of vertical below star 2. Star 12
joins upper and lower points of beak. Star 13 is high above scroll
and points to left upright of U.State a. Perfect.
Heritage Commentary. The tiny obverse die dot that forms on
Liberty's hair in this marriage assists us in determining emission
sequences. Since no other 1802 quarter eagle variety is known with
this feature, we place 1802 BD-2 last in the sequence. This reverse
was also used to produce dimes, 1802 JR-4 and 1804 JR-1, along with
1804 13 Stars quarter eagles, BD-1. In his monograph, Walter Breen
noted that this is a very rare variety with none recently
offered.
Consignor Commentary. This is the finest I have seen. Stu
Levine and I drove to New Hampshire to view the lots for this
auction. I was focused on the Draped Bust dimes in the Russ Logan
portion of the sale. I already owned a Choice XF example of this
quarter eagle variety, which I had purchased at Stack's sale of the
N.S. Poole Collection in 1994. At that time, I was not particularly
interested in upgrading the quarter eagles. Stu was viewing the
entire sale. I had plenty of time so I looked at the few early
quarter eagles in the sale. When I saw this coin, I realized that
it was high in the Condition Census and could easily be the finest
known. I also believed that it would not command a premium for
being a rare variety. In 2002, collectors were not yet focused on
rare varieties, which were not separately listed in the Guide
Book. Today, of course, there is much more interest in rarities
such as this coin.
Provenance.Ex: Bowers and Merena (11/2002), lot 3064.
From The Ed Price Collection.(Registry
values: P6) (NGC ID# 25F6, PCGS# 7650)